A cold grave was better than a slow death, but Chen Lan was not ready for either.The dark cave smelled of wet stone, old moss, and iron. Chen Lan collapsed onto his knees, his hands digging into the cold dirt. He gasped for breath, his chest burning as if he had swallowed hot coals. His scaled arm still throbbed with a dull, blue heat. Beside him, the girl who had pulled him from the cliff pulled a heavy leather mask off her face."Are you planning to die on my floor?" she asked, kicking a small pebble toward him."I am still breathing," Chen Lan grunted, his golden eye slowly fading back to a dark, human brown. "Who are you?""My friends call me Ruo Xi," she said, leaning against the damp cave wall. "My enemies do not get to speak to me at all. You are a very lucky man, Chen Lan.""You know my name?" Chen Lan asked, his voice cracking. He rubbed his face, feeling the new wrinkles around his temples. "How?""The empire is printing your face on every scrap of paper from here to the ca

The dust in the underground tunnel tasted of copper, sulfur, and old bones. Chen Lan kept his left hand hidden beneath his heavy dark cloak, his fingers lightly brushing the cold stone walls. Every time his palm touched the rock, a tiny spark of heat jumped from his black scales, leaving a faint, glowing orange smudge behind. It was the only light they had in the damp darkness."Can you turn that down?" Ruo Xi whispered from ahead, her boots making a soft squelching sound in the mud. "You are like a walking torch.""I am not doing it on purpose," Chen Lan muttered, his teeth clenching as a sharp cramp squeezed his chest. "The magic in these walls is pulling at my blood. It feels like gravity, but sharper.""That means we are close," Ruo Xi said, pausing at a heavy stone doorway covered in thick green moss. She pulled a brass scraping tool from her belt and began clearing the stone. "The ancient texts said the outer defense runes are carved right into the threshold. If a normal human s

The floor became a wall, and the wall became a slide to hell.Chen Lan slammed hard against the steel railing of the corridor as the massive airship groaned, tilting at a terrifying angle. Steam hissed from the pipes above, filling the narrow space with a thick, choking fog that smelled of sulfur and hot oil. Beside him, Ruo Xi was sliding down the metal deck, her boots squeaking against the polished floorboards as she struggled to find her footing."Grab my hand!" Chen Lan roared, his voice cracking from the heat in his throat.He reached out his right hand, his human hand, and caught her fingers just before she could slide into the dark gap of the stairwell. Her face was pale, and she clutched her satchel to her chest as if her life depended on it."Did you have to break the rudder?" Ruo Xi gasped, her feet dangling over the edge of the pit. "We are dropping like a stone!""It was either that or let Wei Lun turn us into pancakes," Chen Lan grunted, pulling her up with a hard yank. "

A single guard stood between them and the path to the Emperor's palace.The rain fell in thin, icy needles, washing the soot from the cobblestones of the capital city. Chen Lan pulled his heavy hood low, trying to hide the shock of white hair that now framed his face. His left arm was wrapped tight in a plain cotton sling, but beneath the cloth, the scales were cold as winter stones. Beside him, Ruo Xi was pushing a wooden cart piled high with rotting cabbages, her head down and her face smeared with black grease."Keep your head down and do not look him in the eye," Ruo Xi whispered, her voice barely carrying over the rattle of the wooden wheels. "If he asks for your papers, let me do the talking.""My bones feel like glass, Ruo Xi," Chen Lan muttered back, his breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps. "The cold is getting into my chest.""Just five more yards," she hissed, her hands gripping the wooden handles of the cart. "Do not fall apart on me now.""Hold it right there," the guar